I plan on using either Africana or Amazonia for a new shrimp tank. What pH value do these two substrates bring RO water to? I've read 5.5 for Africana and 6.4 for Amazonia but I am not sure as I can't find concrete info.

Hoppy

02-14-2013 09:53 PM

You shouldn't use RO water without adding back the minerals needed for it to have some GH and KH hardnesses consistent with your needs. If you don't do that, ADA Aquasoil will result in a pH that will vary a lot, depending on how much traces of the original mineral content is still in the water.

Puddles

02-14-2013 10:14 PM

Yes, I use Salty Shrimp gh+ to bring my gh up to 5, with a kh of 0-1.

snausage

02-16-2013 12:10 AM

In either case the pH will be very low with ro water and it will take forever to cycle the tank. Beneficial bacteria grows much faster in hard alkaline water than soft/acidic water.

IME, Africana is crap and falls apart on you very quickly, although it won't leach nearly as much ammonia at the beginning.

Ammazonia is great though. You'll definitely want to cycle the tank with tap water. Once it's ready for shrimp, you can start adding ro and remineralizers.